Ite caruleae undae! MSMS Students Attend Annual Latin Convention

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On Friday, Feb. 26, MSMS students involved in studying the language of Latin attended the Mississippi Junior Classical League (MJCL) convention on the campus of MSU. Among the 400 other student participants, MSMS students dressed in togas and other Latin or Roman-themed costumes competed in chariot races, gladiator battles, quiz bowl-like challenges and other team spirit events.

Courtesy of Lori Pierce Latin students in various stages of costume dress on the bus to MSU.

The attending students were accompanied by foreign language instructor and Latin club advisor Lori Pierce, who posted regular updates to Twitter during the event.

“It was beautiful, I didn’t have to go to school on my birthday,” said Valerie McGregor. She also added, “Laurel and and I won first place in our part of the costume contest.”

Courtesy of Lori Pierce Chanting their cheer, the MSMS students represented their spirit in both their school and the Latin language.

A translation of the MSMS chant “Go Blue Waves,” “Ite caruleae undae!” was cheered throughout the day’s competitions.

“Latin convention was great, you know,” said Chazz Vickery. “Overall the school did well. We were definitely the best school there. Me and Tristan definitely performed well, even though we got disqualified to reasons unknown. I had a great dark blue toga that eventually led to being a cape with some bobby pins, or safety pins, whatever pins.” Vickery and Tristan Daily competed as gladiators armed with ballon weapons.

MSMS won the chariot races with their wooden, bicycle-wheeled chariot constructed in the Shackleford engineering room. Before the all-day event, participating students used the work space to construct costumes, posters, and their chariot.

Courtesy of Lori Pierce Only two days before the competition, students were busy constructing their winning one-person chariot.

“We had practices for certamen,” said junior Uriah Jenkins. “I hope we can do even better next year than we did this year.” Jenkins described the entire day of activities as “interesting.”

More information about the event, sponsored by the MSU Department of Classical and Modern Languages and Literatures, can be found on the state spotlight. Next year, members of the Latin courses look forward to again attending the MJCL event and “winning the chariot race again!”

Pierce said, “It was a fun day of Latin. I am proud of my students. These are the most prizes we have ever come out of convention with.”